Silver (Mad Hatter) Ozpin
by Ryan Roach
Summary: My name is Silver Ozpin. Adopted son of Professor Ozpin, headmaster at Beacon Academy. As of today I have skipped two years ahead of my old classmates and have been partnered up with a hyper girl my age named Ruby. One thing I can say about her? Our different kinds of madness blend well. "This is bull dude! Somebody get me some mint tea! Shit is way too serious!" RATED M FOR LANG
1. Chapter 1

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

"Stupid alarm clock. Why do you have to be so loud?" I picked up the small clock off my nightstand and looked at the time. "Oh shit, I'm gonna be late!" I jumped out of bed and ran down the hall as fast as possible into the bathroom, slipping out of my pajamas and into the shower. I slammed the water on and grabbed the bar of soap. "Oh, wow that's cold. Damn it dad, you used up all the hot water again! Oh, whatever." I washed my long black hair out as fast as possible and just let the water run down my back for a second, the finished washing up. When I got out I wrapped a towel around my waist and ran back to my room to get dressed. I reached into my closet and started to pull my only clothes out and throw them on my bed. Putting on my black pants, I tucked a silver button up shirt into them; put a black vest on over that, and over that I put on a black duster with white trim. Finally, I put my silver top hat with black hat band and Nevermore feather, black fingerless gloves, and strapped my weapon (a Cheytac M200 sniper that turned into a halberd) over my shoulder.

After this I ran downstairs, poured myself a cup of coffee, and then ran back up so I could pack my clothes and various vials of Dust. I ran through the house like a madman for ten minutes getting my stuff put together when I heard a voice call me from downstairs.

"Silver, you need to get going soon! Dad should be waiting for you at the school!"

"On my way down Orianna!" I skipped the second half of stairs and landed in the huge foyer of our home, the dark hardwood floor clunking under the sound of my boots. I now had a black duffle bag slung over my shoulder. I grabbed the door knob to the front door when someone behind me cleared their throat.

"Just be careful, okay Silver? Dad might be there but Beacon is a dangerous place when it comes to how far they push their students. Trust me on this one." My older sister Orianna told me. Her hair was really long now and silvery grey like our dad's, her face small and comforting. She wore a deep green dress with black gears all along the trim and an emerald and gold ring. She was sitting peacefully in her wheelchair, hands folded in her lap. "Who am I kidding? You'll be fine. Look at you though, getting all grown up on me, going to Beacon even though you're 2 years ahead of everyone else."

"I'll be extra careful. I'm not even a special case this year. There's on girl who's skipping 2 years too. Dad told me about her after getting home late one night. He's never liked me anyhow. I'm just the adopted boy he doesn't care about."

"Don't say that. Ever since mom died he just looks at you and remembered what he did. Nothing can clear that from his conscience anymore. Anyhow, you better get going or you'll miss the airship." She pulled me in for a hug. "I love you Silver, please be careful. Tell dad I said hi!"

"I love you too Orianna. I'll see you as soon as a break comes around." I squeezed her one last time and let go, grabbing the door knob and walking out to the street. There was a small parade of Beacon students heading to the air ship docks and I walked it alone. I've always been an outgoing person but right now was not a good time for me. This was going to be my first year at Beacon Academy, and with the Headmaster as a Dad I'd be sure to receive all kinds of special treatment at first, which might sound great but really sucked in all reality, mainly because it put a huge target on my back for bullies.

I walked up to the airship doors and they opened automatically, giving way to the conversations the other first years were having among their friends. I chose to grab a spot by the window and watch as we took off. The airship we were in was basically a long rectangular room with windows lining the walls and a few benches next to them. It was pretty full but there was enough room to move around if need be.

"I'll be fine dad, I can protect myself. You did what? I don't really need that much Dust at the moment. I-fine. I have to go, goodbye." A girl with long white hair next to me said as she pulled a phone away from her ear. Her hair was pulled into an off-center ponytail with a small tiara used to keep it in tied up. She wore a white dress that ruffled out a little bit and went just below her knees, over that was a white jacket that faded into a light blue at the end of the sleeves, and she wore tall white boots. Strapped to her dress was a steel rapier with Dust cartridges. She turned to look at me and I could clearly see a scar going over her left eye. But what really caught me was the pale ice blue color of her eyes, truly striking.

"Rough morning with the folks?" I asked, trying to be polite. She looked me over for a second, as though trying to decide if I was worth her time or just a waste of existence. I could feel a chill run down my spine. _Man, this girl is ice cold!_

"I guess you could say that. My name is Weiss, for future reference. It's nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand and I shook it.

"My name is Silver; it's nice to meet you too." We talked for the rest of the flight to Beacon about different rumors that had spread around about teams, initiation, and various other things. Finally, we docked at the school and started to unload our luggage. I followed Weiss as she grabbed her 8 bags and put them on a hotel cart that was wheeled behind her by a couple of butler looking guys. I started the walk with her to the school and watched as her dropped just as low as mine upon seeing the castle-like academy. I'd been here a million times now but it still blew my mind.

Towers rose up around the campus to make up dorms, classrooms, and teacher's offices. Second through fourth year students simply walked around with their friends and waved as the first years headed to the Dueling arena where a speech was supposed to be given and we'd be informed about our time at Beacon. A quick glint caught me in the corner of my eye and I looked down at the rapier attached to Weiss's side.

"I've been meaning to ask, but what exactly does that rapier of yours do?"

"You're a pretty curious guy aren't you? Shouldn't you tell me about your weapon first?" she smiled lightly. So far we were getting along pretty well. "After all, it's only common courtesy."

"Well excuse me madam." I bowed sarcastically at this. "This is Writing Raven, part sniper, part halberd, all awesome." I pulled it off my shoulder and watched it unfold into halberd form. The scope collapsed inside the gun and the grip folded in as well. The barrel extended another 3 feet and from it a spike stuck out the top of the muzzle, a large axe head popping out of the bottom of the barrel and another triangular spike on the top. The stock also extended another foot and two smaller blades, slightly bigger than pocket knives, shot out of the top and bottom.

"Impressive, I admit. But can it alter and improve your semblance?"

"Seriously? Your rapier can do that?"

"Its name is Myrtenaster, and yes it can. My semblance is Glyphs so I can easily alter it with Dust." At that moment, some girl in a red hood fell on the cart that was following behind us, spilling Weiss's cases of Dust everywhere. Instantly her face took on that of pure rage.

"I'm so sorry! It was an accident I swear!" the other girl apologized. She had medium-long black hair with what looked like natural red highlights; it almost covered her right eye. She was wearing a black dress that stopped at her knees then ruffled outwards, showing that the bottom of the dress was had thin layers of a wavy red fabric. She had a belt put loosely around her waist with 2 ammo pouches and an extra pouch on the side and a metal rose on the other. Around her shoulder was the red hood I had first noticed, pinned to her dress with metal crosses. She also had on a pair of black tights and knee high black and red combat boots. Her eyes were silver and maybe even more striking than Weiss's. What really set her apart was the rectangle of red metal holstered to the back of her belt. _Must be her weapon._

"Do you have any idea what you could've done just now? This is Dust, mined and purified in the Schnee quarry! And what's with this? How old are you? You look a little young to be coming to Beacon." _That must be the girl that skipped ahead too. Good luck, Weiss will probably rant like this forever._

"Weiss, I'm going on ahead while you settle things here! Meet me in the Arena!" She just waved her hand and I continued my walk. In front of me was a 3 story tall building encircled by Greek columns, the entrance was tall enough for a giant to walk through easily and a banner hung down with two battle axes crossing each other over a laurel wreath, the emblem of Beacon. I walked in and looked around to get a good feel for just how many students there was this year. Hundreds.

We stood in a ring about 100 yards wide, cement walls rising10 feet into the air around us, and on top of those walls were bleachers that were typically used for dueling class or competitions held at the school. On the far end, a small stage rose 2 feet or so above the rest of the floor where a single microphone stood. I eavesdropped on a few conversations for about 10 minutes, totally bored out of my mind, when Weiss tapped me on the shoulder and I smiled a little. She looked seriously pissed.

"The insolence of some people, I swear. Can you believe she just fell over on everything like that?" She crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks a little.

"Just calm down. I'm sure it was an accident. Why don't we just forget it ever happened for a second?" I shrugged a little and put my hands in my pockets. _You show that you're calm and it'll rub off on other people. That's just the way emotions work, still, Weiss might not me that influential._

"Fine. Like I was saying before getting so rudely interrupted, my semblance is Glyphs. This is basically like magic if used in the proper ways. Anyone can use it if they try hard enough. If you want some nights after classes I could give you lessons. Wait a minute… **YOU!"**

"Oh god it's happening again!" the girl from earlier flung herself into the arms of a blonde girl next to her.

"You could've blown us off the side of the cliff!"

"Oh my god you actually exploded." The blonde said.

"Alright, everyone just calm down. Weiss, what happened when I left you back there?"

"This complete and utter DOLT sneezed and made a crater outside of the school because she couldn't handle a little flying dust!" Weiss shouted.

"I said I was sorry!" the other girl yelled back. "God, you're such a little brat!"

"Stop it! Let's try and get along here now. Look, just shake hands and start over. Nothing good is going to come from you two arguing like this all year! Here, I'll start." I reached my hand out to the other girl and smiled. "My name is Silver, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Ruby." She smiled shyly, and then looked over at Weiss.

"Ruby, this is Weiss. Weiss, this is Ruby. There, no more bad blood between you now, okay?" A short but loud beep sounded over the speakers and a woman's voice echoed through the arena.

" _Ruby Rose and Silver Ozpin please report to the Headmaster outside of the Arena immediately."_ I sighed and rolled my shoulders, preparing for the stares. Sure enough they all looked at me upon hearing the name Ozpin. " _I repeat, Ruby Rose and Silver Ozpin please report to the Headmaster outside of the Arena immediately."_

"I guess we'll be back in a minute, come on Ruby." She nodded and followed me as we pushed our way through the crowd to get back outside. When we got to the entrance my dad was standing there, cane and coffee mug in hand as usual. Just behind him to the right was his assistant, Professor Goodwitch. Ruby looked really confused as she followed and tugged on my sleeve.

"Silver, what's going on? Are you really Professor Ozpin's son?"

"Well, technically I'm adopted but yeah, he's my dad. He may seem a little distant at times but he really does care about his students so whatever this is about shouldn't be anything bad. It's probably because we both skipped a couple years."

"You skipped ahead too?"

"Yeah, you couldn't tell? I mean I know I didn't go to Signal like most people here but I think I still look young compared to most of the other first year guys."

"It's just, you act so mature. How are you not nervous about coming here and not knowing anyone?"

"I'm nervous as hell, that's why I tried to be friends with Weiss so fast; I was really awkward coming up here in the airship. Hang on." I put my hands behind my head and tried to look like I didn't care he wanted to see me. "You called for us Professor?" My dad nodded at us and cleared his throat quickly.

"It's been decided by the staff that since you two both came here ahead of your old classmates you'll be partnered up before the initiation begins. This means that for the next 4 years you'll be together constantly, on missions and on campus. We simply wished to inform you of this so you wouldn't become too stressed out about being behind everyone else here. Incidentally, this means you will be on a team of 5 instead of 4 like your other classmates." He stated this in a very monotone voice, his eyes only half open.

"Haven't gotten in that second cup of coffee yet have you Dad? Try not to fall asleep while you're giving the speech. Oh, since you left so early this morning she didn't get the chance to say this but Orianna says hi." He remained blank faced but I could see the pain in his eyes as he looked at me. "Good luck out there. Bye dad." I started to walk back into the arena and without looking back, held up a peace sign. Ruby trailed on my heels, slight bounce in her step.

"So we're partners huh? I guess that means we should get to know each other pretty well. You don't have to meet up with anyone later right?" Ruby jumped in front of me quickly, her hands clasped behind her back. "Because it can wait, if you want. I noticed you're already pretty close with Weiss."

"I just met her today so I'm not sure how good of friends we'll actually end up being. How about we meet up on the cliff to the Emerald Forest in an hour? After we get our lockers, ID's, and scrolls."

"Sure!" She smiled and started walking again. When we got back in she introduced me to her sister, the blonde from before, Yang. Her hair went down to her waist and her eyes were a royal purple. She had on a yellow shirt with a light brown leather jacket over it and black short shorts, a belt with a couple pouches on it and hanging from it some butt-cape-thing. Around her wrists were a couple golden bracelets.

"You two are teammates? That's great! Ruby was all kinds of worried she'd be partnered up with some jerk she doesn't even know but you seem like a good guy." Yang punched my arm.

"Thanks, I guess."

"One thing Silver." She pulled me into a headlock and whispered into my ear quickly. "If Ruby gets hurt with you in anyway, emotionally or physically, I'm going to tear your head off." Yang let me go and I could feel my face pale. "Got it?" Yang asked. I could only nod in fear.

"I'll…keep this brief." Ozpin started, now standing on the stage. He still looked tired. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills-and when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose-direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." He stepped off and quickly exited the arena.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Goodwitch said into the mic and then followed Ozpin.

"He seemed kind of…off" Yang said.

"Trust me on this one; you don't wanna know what's going through his mind right now." We all walked out and as we exited we were handed our scrolls and locker number, ID pictures being taken without even a "Cheese!" which actually made Weiss pretty mad.

"Guess this means we can head to the cliff and get started right away." Ruby said, putting her scroll into her belt pouch.

"What are you talking about?" Yang asked.

"When Ozpin told us we were going to be partners we decided that we should get to know each other better and said we'd meet up at the cliffs by the Emerald Forest. It can't hurt to start early. Who knows, maybe we'll even run into a Creep or two on our way there." I said. "We'll catch up with you guys in the ballroom later on."

"Let's go already! Fact number one about me: I'm not all that patient!" Ruby said and then started to run for the cliffs. I smirked and tipped my hat to the other two.

"Ladies." I turned on my heels and started to sprint behind her.

 **40 minutes later**

We stood on the edge of a 70 degree drop into nothing but thick foliage and tall trees. The sun was still high in the sky above us but there was a strong breeze going by so it felt warm but cool at the same time. The trees rose up to almost be level with the cliff as the forest stretched out in front of us. Being true to the name everything was an emerald green color and looked absolutely beautiful. I could see the glowing red eyes of the Grimm below us staring up at us. I stood panting with my hands on my knees, the edge right in front of me. Ruby was bouncing on her heels in glee behind me.

"Wow, you're the first person to keep up with me for more than ten seconds while I was using my semblance! That's impressive!" Ruby slapped me on the back. "Looks like it took a toll on you though."

"You _*pant*_ are really _*pant*_ fast!" I stood up straight and grinned over at her. "Seriously, that's awesome." I pulled of the duster and put my hat on top of it. Then I cracked the knuckles and rolled my neck, channeling my aura into my fingertips. "But my semblance is a bit more…unique." I stuck my hands straight out over the cliff and watched as glowing silver threads shot out of my fingertips and grabbed onto one of the Grimm below. "It's called the Puppeteer." I flexed my fingers slightly and a Boarbatusk started to climb the cliff, the red eyes now turned silver.

I started it into a dead sprint up the cliff, tusks swinging from side to side as it churned the dirt and rocks beneath its hooves. As it got to the top of the cliff I had it jump up over myself and Ruby to land behind us. My fingers danced as I used the strings to make the Boarbatusk bow in front of us.

"How are you doing that?" Ruby asked in awe. She walked over and put her hand on top of the Grimm's head. "These hairs feel like needles." I watched her look the Grimm over for a few more times, she really took a liking to the bone plating around it's body, before I could feel the strain on my body start up.

"Ruby, I need to walk it back down there before I lose my aura." She nodded at me and I made it walk over to the cliff and then had it roll down. When it hit the bottom I let the strings come back and I felt lightheaded for a second. I put my hat back on and sat down on a boulder.

"How did you do that? It's amazing!" Ruby said. "There's gotta be some kind of trick right?"

"None, I'm a rare breed of a third semblance type."

"Semblance type?" her head tilted to the side and she raised an eyebrow. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Guess they didn't teach that at Signal. There are usually two kinds of semblance. Physical or Alteration. Physical semblances like yours use aura to boost physical abilities to non-human standards. Alteration would be more like Weiss's semblance; it creates something from nothing or changes the world around you in some way without there being any science behind it."

"Wow, so that would make it easier to make teams then right? Two physical and two alteration."

"Exactly, but what they don't normally teach is that there is a third kind called Controllers. Myself, Professor Ozpin, and the leader of Vacuo are the only known Controllers. What we do is control some force of nature with our Aura. In my case, that would be animals, Grimm, Faunus, and humans. The last two I don't like to use my semblance on though."

"Why not, wouldn't it be really useful for stealth missions?"

"Alright, I'll show you why. Keep in mind that in order to completely control a human or Faunus I need all my fingers, I'm only using one right now." She nodded and held out her hand. I put my pointer finger over her palm and let a string stretch down. The second it made contact a freezing cold washed over me and my head started to hurt.

" _What's happening? Why am I so cold?"_ Ruby's voice echoed in my head.

" _This is what happens when you try to mix two souls together."_ I pulled the string back. Everything was acting like it normally was until I could feel heat rising in my head.

At first it was like a heat lamp on my scalp but it kept getting worse .I put my head in my hands and clenched my eyes shut. Every part of my brain racked with a burning pain as though my skull was ripped open and had a hot iron pressed to it. I felt my heartbeat get faster and faster I was vaguely aware of Ruby putting her hand on my shoulder, shouting something, and slowly everything started to go back to normal. The smell of roses passed by me quickly and I looked up at her.

"Sorry about that. Are you okay? I've never gotten a reaction that big before. Hell, never even had a connection that strong with only one string."

"What do you mean am I okay? You were screaming your head off thirty seconds ago! I can really see why you don't use it that often. But why doesn't the same thing happen with Grimm or animals?"

"It's like this. When I use the strings I'm blending my soul and aura into whatever it is they're attached too. With Grimm it's easy because they don't have either so it's total control. Animals, they're more instinct than they are aura so it's easy there too unless they really know how to fight back. But people, they have such a massive amount of aura that it's like trying to cram a fish into a shark tank. Somebody gets hurt from it and it's usually me."

"Whatever, I'm just glad you're okay" She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me, then quickly let go. "But this is no reason to stop, you're fine now right?"

"Mmhmm."

"Alright, then let's keep going. Question one: What is your favorite dessert?"

"Cookies of course! But it's the best if you dip them in a mint tea!"


	2. Chapter 2

"So you seriously took down that many Beowolves all by yourself? That's insanity! I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering you got into Beacon this early. How did you get in anyway?" I was lying upside down on a boulder with my hands behind my head; Ruby was sitting cross-legged on the boulder below me. The sun was starting to set and the sky was a brilliant red and pink color. She looked up at me.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. Basically there were these guys robbing a dust shop I was in and I took all of them out. Well…almost all of them. This one guy named Roman got away before I could stop him." She shrugged.

"Roman, as in Roman Torchwick. The guy that's been jacking dust stores? That's awesome! Man, I wish I had done something like that. Apparently defeating a giant Nevermore by yourself is enough to get in anywhere. Still, it's bugging me about that Roman thing. Who needs that much dust?"

"You're dad asked me the same thing! That one Huntress looked totally done with him too. What was her name again?"

"Glynda Goodwitch, she's my dad's assistant. She's scary but always gives good advice."

"Anyway, we should probably start heading back. You wanna race again?" she joked. I let my strings drop over the cliff and made them grab on to a Beowolf. When it got to the top I hopped on its back and pressed my gun into the back of the large furry head.

"Whenever you're ready" I smirked. She got in a track runner pose and I could almost feel the energy flowing from her. I laughed and she smiled. "This is gonna be awesome!"

"In 3…2…1…Go!" She took off ahead of me, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her. I kicked the Grimm in the side and took off after her, the wind almost blowing my hat off. I had to wrap my legs around the midsection of the Beowolf in order to hang on because apparently I'd chosen a fast mother fucker! After about ten minutes I started to catch up to Ruby, her hood waving like flames in the wind. I stood up on its back and pulled the trigger, blowing a hole in the Grimm's skull. Instantly my puppeteer strings came back to me and I was launched forward as its face skidded on the ground.

"Well well, somebody knows how to run when he needs to! I'm not even trying though!" Ruby shouted over the wind, then proceeded to speed up another 20 miles an hour. "Try and keep up with this!"

"That is SO not fair!"

 **30 minutes later**

I jogged into the ballroom feeling like my lungs were about to burst, even Ruby was panting heavily next to me. There was a safe right next to the entrance that read 'please put all weapons here. Present the ticket to the scanner below in the morning and you will be given it back.' So I threw Writing Raven in there next to a few other weapons, apparently the safe had a lot of different compartments.

The ballroom was about as big as a football field. The ceiling was 3 stories high and all the walls were made of a dark oak, a marble pillar placed between each window on the left wall. A stairway led up to a second floor balcony. Other students walked around all over the place in order to claim a spot on the floor, sleeping bags tucked under their arms. Someone handed me a sleeping bag and told me to go grab my bag from Professor Oobleck. He was standing behind a counter, a mountain of luggage behind him, handing kids their bags at his usually hyper speed. I shuffled over, my legs still tired from the race.

"Hey Professor Oobleck, you know which bag is mine right?" I handed him a piece of paper with by bag number on it and he nodded, and then zipped away for a second. His hair was still wind-blown and insane looking, a bush green color. He wore a white button up shirt, cuffs unbuttoned and one side of it not tucked in like the other; over this was a yellow tie and he also wore a pair of black slacks. His glasses constantly reflected the light of the room around him so you couldn't really see his eyes.

"My, is that you Silver? It's been so long since I've seen you! When was it? It's been a few years at the least. Oh, when was the last time we met?" He put a hand on his chin and his foot started to tap like a machine gun was going off. "Oh, that's right! It was at your mother's-oh, right. I'm sorry my boy, almost let it slip." His face had taken on a look of depression.

"It's fine. I've come to terms with it. I was even able to forgive dad, mostly. It was nice seeing you again." I slung the duffle bag over my shoulder and walked to the second floor stairwell. They spiraled up quickly and when I got to the top I spread my sleeping bag out directly next to one of the windows. I looked over at a clock and noticed that it was already 8. I stripped off the duster and vest, and then untucked my shirt. I set my hat next to me on the floor and lay down on the sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling.

I totally blanked out, unaware of the people around me. The world was fluid around me; I could feel the hum of everyone's aura flow around me. It was unnerving, but reassuring. _If anything tries to attack this place it is ROYALLY fucked_. I chuckled a little. Suddenly, something jabbed in the side.

"I didn't think you'd be hiding up here too." Weiss said, leaning over me. "You know everyone is downstairs right?" her hair cascaded over her shoulder and waved next to my face.

"I know. I just figured Ruby wouldn't want someone she just met sleeping next to her all night. It's not like you don't know anyone here. I like chilling out by myself anyway." She shook her head at this.

"Well that's just not gonna happen, scoot over." I sat up and made room for her. "What's got you so tired? You look like you're about to pass out or something."

"Just running with Ruby, damn that girl is fast. Hey, you want some tea?"

"What?"

"Tea. I brought an electric kettle in my bag and a box of tea bags. Do you want some?" I reached into a side pocket and pulled out the tea then got the kettle and plugged it into the wall next to me. Then it dawned on me, I didn't actually have any water to heat up to start with. "And the memory is on a roll!" I pumped my fist. "I'm gonna head downstairs and grab some water bottles."

"You don't need to do that. Watch this." She opened the kettle top and held her hand over it; a small glyph hovered beneath her palm, a deep blue color. Slowly at first, a stream of water dropped from the glyph until it had filled up the whole thing. "I told you glyphs are cool." She flicked the switch and the water started to roll from the heat.

"No joke. Now let me find the cups." I dug around until my hand found a small wooden box. I opened it and put the two cups in front of me. They looked pretty boring actually, plain white porcelain and totally circular with a simple handle. "You're gonna love these, watch this." I picked one up and the porcelain started to shift until it took on a taller, rectangle-ish shape; painted in intricate designs were grey top hats and silver puppet string controllers on a black background. The handle got longer, meant for a full hand to hold it. "What do you think?"

"Impressive. Let me try though." Weiss picked up the other one and it became a traditional teacup, snowflakes and glyphs painted in vibrant red on the glossy white surface. She smiled a little. "It looks like a cup I had when I was a little kid." The kettle started to whistle next to me and I put one of the teabags in each of our cups, and then poured the hot water in.

"What are you really doing up here Weiss? There's no way you saw me sneak up here because none of you guys were even in sight when I started up the stairs." I sipped the tea and breathed out a little steam. _Guess I'm still cold from earlier._ She let her hair loose and put her head against the wall.

"You know how you start to feel anxious about something but end up just wanting to think about it alone? Yeah well, not a lot of 'aloneness' down there. I came up here for the view originally, thought it would help clear my mind a bit." She looked over her shoulder out the window and sighed. "But that was just wishful thinking." She took a sip from her cup and her eyes got wide. "What kind of tea is this?"

"My own mix; the mint is from Vacuo, that bit of sweetness is orange tree leaves from southern Vale, and that taste of sugar in the back of your throat is chamomile from Atlas. I'm kind of a geek when it comes to tea leaves." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Because, you know, my dad was a coffee nut and I wanted to try something different."

"Well, it's much appreciated. This is amazing." We sat there in silence until she finished drinking and left to change then get to bed. I stared into the bottom of my cup and could see my reflection staring right back at me, it was kind of hypnotic. Once I shook myself out of the trance I got up and went to the bathroom to change. Basically my pajamas are a pair of black skater shorts and a white tank top. The air in the ballroom was getting stuffy so when I got back upstairs I cracked the window open next to my face and spaced out looking at the moon. It was almost full and a feeling of dread filled me. I picked up my scroll and called my dad.

"You have a room ready for right? The full moon will be here soon and I don't want to get someone hurt. If something happens it's all on me."

"Come by my office tomorrow morning before initiation. There's a little present I need to give you that will help with the very problem you're speaking of. Now get to bed, it's almost 10 and you have a lot to do tomorrow." He grumbled.

"Glynda bought decaf by accident again didn't she? You've been out of it since this morning."

"Yes, now go to sleep." The other side of the line went dead. I slipped into my sleeping bag and put my hat over my face, hands behind my head. One by one I heard others follow the call of sleep, the ballroom growing progressively quieter. The cool breeze from the window put my mind at ease and I started to slowly slip into my own fantasies.

 **Inside the dream**

I'm standing in my old apartment. The furniture has been thrown all over and the floor was a mess with our little decorations my sister and I had made as kids. A man in a dragon mask stands in front of me; a gun in one hand and my mom in the other.

"You get two choices here kid. Show me where daddy hid it or your mommy gets it!" his voice was deep and loud. She shook her head. "What's it gonna be kid?" Her light green dress was in tatters, and her earthy brown hair tangled up in his fist. Her face was contorted in pain, making the smile lines usually obvious on her face disappear. Her eyes, one green one brown, were fixed with a desperate resolve.

"Please don't hurt her! I don't know where he put it, really! Just let my mom go!" I pleaded, fear gripping me too. "PLEASE! JUST LET HER GO!"

"Silver, you're gonna be okay. Any minute now dad and Orianna will be home and they'll save you. It's all gonna be okay. Just promise me something."

"Mom?"

"Promise me Silver. You have to do the right thing. I can't do the right thing if you don't promise me you'll be a good boy." Tears flowed out of my eyes in rivers. I shook my head over and over.

"You can't do this! Don't leave me alone again!"

"Silver, promise me."

"What the hell are you going on about bitch?!" The man shouted, grabbing her hair.

"I promise. I'll do my best at everything forever!" I shouted. A smile of relief played on her lips. In an instant, she pulled the man to his knees and snapped his neck, but right before her arms could totally get around him, a shot echoed of the walls, and a bullet entered my mom's chest. She fell to the ground next to him, blood drenching her dress. I crawled over and put her head in my lap, crying for what seemed like forever, my wails of agony resounding off the walls.

The door lock started to rattle quickly as someone unlocked the door. It burst open and smacked against the wall, my dad and Orianna standing in the frame.

"Silver! What's wrong? Why are you-Oh my god. JULIA!" my dad ran forward. He picked her up in his arms. Orianna stood with her hands over her mouth. "We have to get her to a hospital. Orianna, bring the car around. HURRY!" he yelled. She ran off as fast as she could. His eyes were full of panic. "Silver, what happened? Who is this man?" His words passed through me like a ghost. Everything was now black, my chest felt totally empty. _I'm all alone again. Just like before. Why? Why is it always me?_ Soft warmth started to cover my body and I could smell the sweet and delicate scent of roses. The hole started to fill until reality called to me more than my own exhaustion.

 **Back in the Real World**

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" I shouted. I sat bolt upright, my body covered in sweat. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as the memory faded into the back of my mind again. I was heaving for air. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Silver, are you okay?" It was Ruby; she was lying down next to my sleeping bag. The moon was still high in the sky and it shone right on her face. Her silver eyes reflected the moonlight brilliantly. She had on a black tank top with a heart shaped Beowolf head on it. Her pajama pants were white with small roses all over them. She propped herself up on her elbow and stared at me.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine. Just…a nightmare, that's all. What are you doing here?" I ran a hand through my hair and turned to look at her better.

"Everyone down there snores really loud and Weiss told me you were up here so I thought I'd come up too." She yawned. "But I couldn't grab my sleeping bag because Yang stole it from me."

"Go ahead and take mine. There's no way I'm getting back to sleep tonight." I wiggled out and sat down against the wall.

"I have a better idea." She unzipped the bag all the way around and sat next to me on the wall, spreading the now totally open sleeping bag over the both of us like a blanket. "We're partners now. We can't afford to not tell the other person about something. Tell you what, let's start with that nightmare. What was it about?" I looked at her and smirked. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just that you're the first person in a while to ask me that. You're right, we can't be strangers." I pulled the bag a little bit higher and took a deep breath. "I guess it's not so much of a nightmare as it was a bad memory." I explained what happened to her, the hole in my chest getting wider with each sentence. My eyes started to tear up. "I miss her so much. She saved me from that orphanage, believed in me, told me I was worth something. She put hope back into my life."

"I'm so sorry Silver. I know what you were going through."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Last year my mom was killed in front of my eyes, trying to save my life. I tagged along with her on a mission even though she told me it would be dangerous. We were cornered by some bandits up in the mountains. She fought like a snow storm, tearing everything up in huge attacks. But one of them snuck past her and got behind me, putting a knife to my back. And I…she…" Ruby's voice was cracking down, tears running down her face.

"It's okay; you don't have to tell me. It's only been a year; you don't have to talk about it." I put my arm around her shoulders and she cried into my shirt for a few minutes. "It's okay Ruby. She loved you, that's all you need to know. She loved you so much she put you above her own life. You don't have to keep going."

"No, I need to tell you. You told me about your mom and now it's my turn." She sniffled and pulled away. "They threatened to kill me if she didn't give up. When she put her weapon down they started slicing up her arms with knives. In the end they still stabbed me; the scar aches if I think about. She used the last bit of her aura to heal her cuts and then killed the rest of them. But she pushed herself too far. Her body gave up; she fell down totally dead in front of me. An hour later some hikers found me, paralyzed, and called for help."

"Oh my god, that's awful. I'm sorry." She put her head on my shoulder again. "Are you okay?"

"I will be in the morning. Can I ask you something real quick?"

"Anything."

"When you use the Puppeteer on someone you feel a lot of pain because you're invading their soul right?"

"That's about the gist of it." I nodded. "You aura reacts to me intruding and attacks. No one, and I mean no one, likes to have their soul controlled."

"Let's try it again then, but this time you'll have full access to my aura. I'm not gonna block you out at all. I just want to see what'll happen." She held out her hand. Instantly, it was radiating a vibrant red color. I started to reach out but pulled my hand back.

"I can't risk you being the one who gets hurt this time Ruby. We only met today and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I did something permanent." I whispered, fear clear in my voice.

"You have to trust me Silver. If you we can't believe in each other than the next four years are gonna be a waste of our time. Let yourself go." She smiled gently. I nodded and put my hand over hers, slowly letting a string flow from my finger to the palm of her hand.

At first the cold tried to set in but was whisked away by something. My aura felt like I was lying down in a field, the sun on my face. The world melted away around me, it was just me and Ruby. Her whole body was radiating now instead of just her hand. But something else was different. The once vibrant red looked more solid, and a bit darker. I looked down at myself and the same had happened except that my aura was a bit more silver colored than the one around her.

" _What's going on?"_ Ruby asked. I could hear her thoughts. She looked at herself with wonder glazed over her eyes. _"This is so cool!"_

" _I know right?"_ I answered. She turned to me and looked shocked.

" _Can…you hear me right now?"_

" _Loud as a whistle. Do you know what's going on?"_

" _I was just about to ask you that!"_ She laughed. _"My aura feels stronger than before, a bit crazier too."_ She flexed her fingers and demonstrated that it was moving all over in sporadic motions.

" _I think our aura's mixed together into one big pool. The crazy part would probably be because of me. Do you feel really relaxed too?"_ I was really excited. I mean, this had never happened to me before!

" _Yeah, not tired or even the slightest bit sleepy but just, calm. Like I'm on a boat with smooth water below me. Hey, let's push it to two strings and see what happens!"_ She smiled excitedly and almost bounced in place. She looked like a little kid who just watched a magic trick. I dropped another string down right above her hand and watched as the mixed aura rose up to meet it, a thread I had no control over.

I felt a sense of detachment and realized that I was floating now, above my body. Ruby and I were passed out leaning on each other, our mouths hanging open slightly. But then again, she was right next to me. At least, her aura was. Her body was glowing red with a silver dot in the middle of her chest; the only part of her that I could actually make any details out on was her head. Our hands were joined by one silver string and one red one.

" _Silver, what's going on?"_ She sounded scared this time as she patted at her floating self next to me. _"How do we get back? Are we stuck like this?!"_

" _Calm down. We just need to let go of the strings, right? On three, we both let go."_ She nodded and I felt my aura begin to shake as her fear ran over to me. _"One…two…three."_ I grabbed one of the strings and pulled it as hard as I could, Ruby doing the same with the other one. It felt like my mind had become a sling shot. I was shot back into my own body and I felt a small ache. My eyes opened for half a second but they were so dry I had to quickly shut them again. Apparently my body was in such a large amount of discomfort it decided to shut down for the night. The next dream I had I was just lying in that field, tall green grass all around with a strong breeze blowing past me as the sun warmed my muscles.

 **The next morning**

"Wake up you two, time to stop flirting and get ready." Someone shook me and my eyes slowly opened. Everything around me looked out of focus for a moment. Yang was standing above me with her hands on her hips and a grin plastered on her face. "You mind getting Ruby up? She's a bit too much of a morning person for me to handle when I can avoid it. Good luck in the forest today hot shot." She waved then walked away.

I felt something move around on my shoulder and looked over to see Ruby totally passed out next to me, her head still on my shoulder from last night. She looked so peaceful, a slight smile playing on her lips. I poked the top of her head and her eyes opened up a bit.

"Morning!" she grinned. Then she noticed she was leaning on me and a blush spread across her face. "Sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep on you like that!" Quickly standing up, she dusted off the front of her pants. "I'm gonna go change. I'll meet you for initiation later, okay?" I nodded and she darted down the stairs. I went to the bathroom and changed as well. Today I decided to leave the duster in my bag though; it was nice and hot outside so I figured that it might get stuffy under that thing. I rolled up my sleeves and put my hat on while I was walking out of the ballroom. I had to give my bag back to Oobleck when I left but they gave me Writing Raven in exchange.

I strolled toward the main tower. People would pass by me as they talked with their friends and teammates. I looked up and saw my dad standing on the balcony outside of his office. The main tower may very well have been a hundred stories tall, mainly composed of dorms and clubrooms. I opened the doors and felt the white marble clunk beneath my feet. Lockers lined the walls with benches in the middle of them. At the far end of the hall was an elevator that went straight to the Headmaster's room. It was small and round on the inside, like being inside a giant soup can. The floor was carpeted with a dark green felt. I hit the up button and had to bend my knees when it shot upward like a bullet.

When it finally dinged and opened up it revealed my dad's office. It was huge, about the size of two living rooms. The floor was made of a thick glass so you could see the gears of the clock tower that we actually stood in turning below you. Above, the pendulums stood totally still, glowing emerald green. The walls were painted dark gray, and on the far side of the room was a giant arched window that reached the ceiling; a doorknob could be seen on the side of it. His desk sat right in front of that, a thin table totally computerized and circled around his high back chair. He was still out on the balcony, but he was looking down at something in his hands.

I opened the glass door and walked over next to him. Leaning on the rail, I was able to look down upon the other students and the entire campus, it was really breathtaking. I looked over at him, but he was totally spaced out.

"Dad" I said. He jolted out of the daydream and shook his head, then looked over at me.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know you were there."

"I noticed. What was it you wanted to give me?" My eyebrow rose. He held out his hand, in it was a pendant shaped like a key, the head of it shaped like a leaf and the stem carved with runes. It looked fairly old. "Where did you find this?"

"It was Julia's. I've been waiting for the right time to give it to you and I thought this might be it. You're starting a new chapter of your life but you need to remember the past in order to make sure it doesn't reoccur in the future. I'm sure you of all people know about mistakes."He stared off into the distance again.

"Why is it so important? I mean I know it was moms but you said it would help with the aura release."

"Your mother was a Controller just like you and me, but she controlled nature and through this key she devised a way to automatically channel any extra aura she created into either the plants around her or to her teammates. It saved their lives more than once."

"So, I won't explode with aura on the full moon anymore? Everything will go on totally normal."

"As long as that is around your neck everything will be totally normal, there is a repercussion though. When you take it off there will still be a small pool of aura naturally built up as a second power source inside of you. You. Must. Not. Use. This. Aura." He stressed each word. "It is all your negative energy. In your case it would mainly consist of insanity."

"Hey!"

"Am I wrong? You are full of mental disturbances, especially towards murder and robbery." He looked at his watch and sighed. "You should get going. The initiation starts soon and although you have a partner there is still the matter of picking your team." I nodded and walked back to the elevator. When he turned back to me right before the door closed and gave a two fingered salute.

"Thanks old man."

 **Thanks for coming back for chapter 2 you guys! If you have any advice or suggestions for where I should take this send me a PM. Don't be a stranger. Read, review, and repeat!**


	3. Chapter 3

All of the first years stood on individual platforms lined up along the edge of the cliffs, wondering what in the Hell was going to happen. In front of us stood the Emerald Forest, a quiet, but deadly force waiting to eat each and every person here for breakfast. My dad stood in front of us with Glynda, a tablet in each of their hands, and a coffee mug along with his cane in the other; as usual with my dad. Ruby stood next to me with a dead serious expression, ready to face the forest.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest. Come back with your objective complete, or die" My dad said glaring at each of us in turn.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." Glynda started. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

"Your teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well with. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years. After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path. Or you will die." A couple of guttural reactions ensued around me. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

 _Oh please, could it be easier? Get in, grab a relic, and get out. Pretty damn simple._ A blond guy a few people down from me raised his hand and looked shy for a moment.

"Um, yeah. Sir?" the kid asked.

"Good, now take your positions." Instantly I whipped Writing Raven around in halberd form and crouched low down, like a cat. Ruby, who was next to me, bent her knees and put a hand on her weapon.

Um, sir. I got…um…a question." He carried on. At that moment the first kid was sent flying through the air by their platform, shooting towards the forest below. "So, this, landing strategy thing…uh, like what is it? You're dropping us off or something?" _God, how dense can you be dude? THERE ARE PEOPLE FLYING THROUGH THE FUCKING AIR IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES_ _NUMB NUTS!_

"No, you will be falling." I could see the irritation creeping into my dad's eyes as well. This guy has GOT to be kidding around right? They teach landing strategies to first years at Sanctum!

"Oh…I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?"

"No you will be using you own landing strategy." At that, Ruby shot off in front of me. I could feel the tension building beneath me and the next thing I knew I was in midair. The wind raced past me at incredible speeds. I held Writing Raven like a javelin and threw it directly into the tree in front of me. I heard the _thunk_ as it sunk into the bark and quickly whipped myself around so I could grab onto it. The second the cold metal brushed my hands I gripped it iron tight, then swung around so I could pull it out while simultaneously landing on a branch.

The leaves rustled under my weight and quickly I switched my weapon back into sniper mode, looking through the scope for anything that could be a threat. _All clear._ I leaped off the branch and landed on the ground heavily, stirring dust up around me. Looking to the sun, I determined which way was North and started running in that direction.

The forest passed by me in a blur, my hat had been left behind at the school so I could run without having to worry about it. I could feel the wind blow my hair around and it cooled me off immensely. Animals darted out my way as I dashed through the bushes and grass. I accidentally ran into a clearing and could instantly feel the eyes of every Grimm in the forest turn to me.

Directly ahead of me a huge King Taijitu slithered out of the forest. Something was different about it though, it's had widened to look like that of a cobra instead of the traditional rattle snake look. A pair of huge fangs hung from its mouth, dripping a siizling black venom. Only the black head was presented to me, the extra white one hiding behind it's twin still.

"What are you?" I inquired with a deep growl in my voice. "Doesn't matter, you're dead now." A grin spread across my face. I charged the Grimm with my weapon pointed right at its eye. I pulled the trigger and its head jerked to the side from the force of the bullet contacting its scales. When it turned back to me hatred and rage beamed in those red eyes. It hissed angrily. Then it lunged at me, fangs barred.

I barely dodged the attack, the incredible speed it possessed was blowing my mind. I switched back over to halberd mode, then proceeded to swing it around my head in a few swift motions, cutting at the tough scales each time it passed by, moving in fluid motions as though I were dancing. This time it came at a direct frontal assault. I put two hands on the pole of my weapon and held the halberd behind my head, then brought the axe head down right between its eyes. The light faded from those monstrous orbs and in reaction to losing the other half of itself the white head turned to me, the scales on this one looked sharper and tougher, the cobra look totally gone. On its nose was a single short horn. Something was definitely wrong here but I'd have to ask about it later. I could feel the energy building up inside of my body, now this was interesting!

"Let's have some fun! Hopefully you excite me a bit more than cobra boy over here!" I shouted at the beast. "Hahahahaha! Oh my GOD this is fun!" I made the grin toothier and glared at it. "COME ON!" I growled. It didn't move, waiting for me to strike. "FINE!" I sprinted as fast as possible right in front of the Grimm, switching over to sniper again. I fired several rounds into the scales to get a feel for the density and was entertained to find that my bullets had absolutely no affect on it whatsoever. With even greater speed than the other head he surged downward, almost directly on top of me.

He kept repeating this, and it was so fast I almost didn't even have time to dodge. I aimed for the crest of its head and shot about 8 rounds directly into its head before my ammo clip emptied.

"SHIT!"Out of nowhere it dropped low to the ground and started to tunnel, making a huge hole in the ground. The forest around me shook as boulders were pushed aside underground in order for the Grimm to keep moving. Depressions in the grass started appear around me in a circle. It burst out of the ground and dived at me again, its tongue reaching out to me. I jumped backwards out of the way and it crashed into a tree. It shook its massive head and looked back at my crazed form, flicking that bright red tongue at me. _I didn't want to have to use this but ok._ I slung Writing Raven over my shoulder and started to channel my aura into my fingers. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the Grimm in front of me. I held out a hand and four strings shot out, grabbing the Grimm all over its body.

"I'm gonna make you bend and break you soulless bitch!" I forced it to open its massive fanged jaw and made it jam it's sword length teeth down on the tough scales. I heard a sound like shattering glass and several of the white plates fell to the forest floor, starting to dissipate instantly, like all Grimm do when they die or a part of them is broken off. Then I stretched its eye toward me and pulled

I sensed another aura off to my right and turned to find Yang with some girl in a black bow staring at me. Their mouths were wide open as they stared at my aura threads. She turned to the Grimm and grinned.

"Hold him there Silver! I got the finishing blow right here!" She shook her wrists and they unfolded to cover her entire forearm, shotguns shells wrapping around middle of it. She dashed forward and fired off a shot to launch into the air. Right before getting to the Grimm, she pulled her arm back and then slammed it with a powerful right straight to the part of it where the scales had broken off. Fire blazed around it and I could visibly watch the shock wave run through its body until it exploded in the great white head. My strings returned and I dropped to a knee, all energy totally drained.

"Thanks Yang, but I had him. Another 20 seconds and BAM, bites itself in half." Her eyebrow raised a little and she held out a hand to help me up.

"You okay there chief?" She asked.

"Yeah, just get a little crazy when I'm fighting, that's all. One time I was so into it I almost cut a guys ear off. Anyway, I better go find Ruby. Good luck Yang and bow lady!" I started off in a run again, leaving them dead confused behind me. Once I had broken through the tree line for a while I stopped. "Damn, they saw my semblance. If they tell someone about this I could be in some deep shit. Oh man, dad's gonna kill me!" my face chilled and I put my hands to my mouth. "Whatever, for now just find the relic and get out. That's all you gotta do, right? Wait a minute; dad said that we're going to have a team of five. Does that mean that when either I or Ruby sees a person, eye to eye, after landing, that we become a trio?" I shrugged and continued to run north. _Man, this place is getting right back into the usual mood!_ My feet pounded the earth beneath me with each step, the tree's becoming an elegant green and brown blur in the corners of my vision.

I ran for what seemed like an eternity when I finally could finally see the edge of the forest, I broke out into a full dead sprint, letting the wind try its hardest to hold me back while I dashed onward. When I broke the trees I found myself staring at a large group of stone ruins, there was a guy in a lot of armor and who I assumed was his mohawked partner grabbing a black knight chess piece and running back to the cliffs almost instantly. Each podium either had a golden or a black chess piece on it, several already missing.

Eventually everyone did end up finally getting there but not before the stream of confusing events poured out onto grassy area. First, a girl rode in on the back of an Ursa; next, another girl ran out of the forest with a Death Stalker, a giant scorpion like creature, right on her heels; and finally Ruby fell from the sky with Weiss, they had been riding on the back of a Nevermore, another large Grimm, usually looking like a crow; and last of all Ruby tried to fight the Death Stalker alone and almost died, Weiss saving her at the last second...Now I know that seems a bit fast paced right there but honestly everything just sort of happened at once so I'll skip a bit ahead.

 _ **20 minutes after arriving at the shrine**_

"Our objective is to grab the pieces and get back to the cliff. It doesn't make any sense hanging around here any longer than we have to" Ruby stated, taking on a leader-like role.

"She's right. Inevitably we will have to fight these Grimm though so we might as well make it an area of our own choice. Anybody specializing in aerial combat come with me and we'll take on the Nevermore. People better on the ground go with the Death Stalker. If we can move fast enough they shouldn't be able to catch us, speed is crucial here." I ordered.

"You heard them, let's get going!" Yang yelled. "Silver, Blake and I will join up with you, Ruby should come too, she's wicked fast on her feet and a sure shot." I nodded to her.

"I have Sigil semblance, the Air is my best zone. Will you mind if I tag along?" Weiss asked.

"I couldn't ask for a better team! The rest of you guys got the Death Stalker?"

"You can count on us! Uh, I think. What was the question again?" It was that guy from the cliff before, the one who asked a bunch of dumb questions. I rolled my eyes and turned around.

"Let's go!" I started running up a large hill, once to the top I knew that there was rows of stone pillars on either side of me and ahead of that would be where we fought the Nevermore, a great spire of bridges connecting to a tower in the middle of a huge crevasse. I let Writing Raven slip off of my shoulder and fall into my hand where it automatically unfolded into a halberd, the axe head reflecting the noon sun.

Just as I thought it would the Nevermore decided to fly in front of us to the tower, hoping to cut us off. The Death Stalker was slowly catching up to us now and there wasn't much time until the fight began. I began to work the aura in my chest around in a swirling motion. My speed picked up and I heard explosion echoing above my head, the Grimm had begun their attack.

"Silver! Send us all a string!" Ruby yelled. "We need to be able to communicate better than just yelling!"

"Got it! Everyone, get ahead of me and don't be scared or resist when you feel cold in a second! You owe me for this one Ruby! I'm gonna have one massive headache after this" I muttered that last part to myself. The four girls ran in front of me and I stretched the fingers on my left hand out to them, the silver threads quickly attaching themselves onto the nape of their necks.

" _What's going on here?! Get this off of me!"_ Weiss yelled, the screams of the other two sounded in chorus with her.

" _Calm down! Everyone listen closely, this is my semblance. Don't fight it or everyone could be severely damaged. Yang, you distract it; Blake and Weiss, you set up a way to catch the damn thing; Ruby, you're our key piece here, I need you to kill that thing as soon as its caught."_

 _"What about you?"_ Ruby questioned. " _You're not just gonna sit on the sidelines are you?"_ I grinned and released the strings. Stopping in an instant, I rapidly began gathering up all the aura left in my body and pushing it into my hands.

"I'll make sure it cooperates." They all ran to work on their given tasks. "Now comes the fun part." I observed Weiss and Blake as they tried to make a plan, Ruby firing off smaller shots into the Grimm's wings. Yang was already on top of a pillar and blasting a volley of fireballs at the large Grimm, her eyes now blood red.

"SILVER! NOW!" She screamed as it dive bombed her.

"Got it!" I ran as fast as possible towards her. Time slowed down for me. At the last possible second she made a humongous leap straight up and the monster barely missed her and instead got me right in it's face. "Just let me borrow you for a minute!" I jumped onto its massive head and let my threads work their way around its body. With each one I felt more and more control over it flow into my mind. Finally, when the last string attached I entered its own mind instead, seeing through its eyes and feeling the wind glide across the razor sharp feathers.

I meant to say something cool, like "This is what you get for trying to fight me!", but it just came out as a loud and angry sounding screech. Weiss motioned for me to fly it to her and when its tail got close to the ground she froze it there with her rapier, large ice spikes jutting out of the stone bridge. I relinquished control back to it and jumped to the ground.

"I need to get back to other side of the bridge right now, it'll be a few seconds before it breaks free." She told me quickly.

"Don't think I'm weird for this but give me your hand."

"What?!"

"Just do it!" I grabbed her hand in my own and turned to Ruby and the others. "Let 'er fly!" I spun her around once and then with all my might flung her to them, she took the lead after that and used a sigil to even herself out and launch even faster. Once she reached the other girls they proceeded to tie a ribbon from Blake's weapon to two pillars, Ruby launching herself on top of her scythe into it, like a slingshot. Weiss waited where the stretch limit reached and halted her ricochet there with a black sigil, then right before Ruby shot off it turned into a rose red color. Mid-arc I stretched out two strings to her and Weiss.

" _Ruby, catch it by the neck with the blade of your scythe. Weiss, she's gonna need to run up the cliff, give her a little help with her grip?"_

" _On it!"_ Ruby answered. She landed with a loud thud on the cliff a moment later, her scythe digging into the skin right under the Grimm's chin. The cliff lit up with several white sigils and Ruby took off faster than I could follow. The Grimm was yanked up the cliff until it got caught on the cliff, and with a shot from the large red sniper/scythe Ruby used the centrifugal force to decapitate the monster.

A beautiful ensemble of the brightest red rose petals rained down from the cliff Ruby now stood on. I released my strings at last and fell to my knees. Everything started to go dark and I fell over.

"Totally...worth...it"


	4. Chapter 4

My eyes peeled themselves open and stared up at a bright white ceiling, my vision blurry and uncertain. I could feel sheets sticking to my sweaty back. The muscles in my arms ached with the heat of molten lead, hanging limp at my sides. In the back of my head came the pounding of a tribal drum, beating harshly and repeatedly on my brain. I gasped in air and and attempted to sit up, only to regret it instantaneously. The fatigue in my muscles caused them to cramp without actually getting myself to move.

I was lying in a hospital bed, wearing baggy sweatpants. My shirt was removed and bandages wrapped my arms and chest thoroughly, thankfully though the key still dangled from my neck. I turned my head onto it's side to get a better look at my surroundings. All the walls were painted an almond white color, paintings of landscapes hanging on three of the four walls. Looking to my left, I noticed a small figure lying her head on the side of my bed.

Slowly, I lifted my hand and placed in on top of her head, petting her in the same soothing way my mother used to do for me. The black and red locks of hair felt soft and smooth under my hand. She smiled lightly in her sleep and shifted, making a small whimpering sound.

"Thanks for staying with me Ruby." I smiled and looked to the window past the foot of my bed, where a window allowed me to peer outward to the campus fountain. Students ran from building to building, class to class, most of the first years asking older students for help. "Classes must've started already. I wonder how long I was out."

Ruby stirred under my hand more and slowly lifted her head, rubbing her eyes and gazing up at me. Her large silver saucers blinked dumbly a few times, then she glanced around slowly and yawned, stretching her arms up above her head.

"Good morning Silver" she mumbled.

"Morning Ruby. If you don't mind my asking, how long was I out?" She shook her head vigorously and looked more alert than a second before.

"It was about two weeks I think, yeah something like that. Oh! Don't worry about classes though! They're excusing you on account of 'special circumstances' or something. I'm not sure what Ozpin meant by that."

"He can be a bit cryptic sometimes that's for sure. Whose team did we end up getting put on?" Ruby stood up, a new energy in face, and put her hands on her hips, looking down at me with a grin on her face.

"We weren't placed on anyone's team! Because I'M the leader! You can applaud if you want to."

"Oh. So cool. Congrats." I said in a monotone voice while clapping furiously. She pushed me back into the bed, her reddened with embarrassment and I stifled a laugh.

"Come on Silver don't tease me like that!"

"Sorry, sorry. But really, congratulations Ruby. You really made all the right calls out there. Nice job!" I smiled and petted her head affectionately before I got back up again and swung my legs over the side of the bed, sluggishly I managed to stand on my own two feet, the pounding in my head only worsening. _God dammit! Today is gonna suck_. "Hey Ruby, I'm gonna get changed. You go back to the dorm and let them know I'm on my way?"

"Sure thing! Oh, there's one issue we have actually. The room only has four beds and me and the girls already filled them all-"

"I'm the only guy on our team?" I asked pointing at myself.

"Yes! Besides us there's Weiss, Yang, and another girl named Blake." I sighed and nodded, rubbing the bridge of my nose. _Yet another headache._ "Anyways, we've got you a corner of the room set up with a few blankets but that's the best we can manage for now, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, I'm sure I've slept on worse. Could you, um, y'know." Her head cocked to the side for a second before she turned as red as her cape.

"RIGHT! I-I'll see you back at the dorm. Just check your scroll and it should give you all the info you might need." I nodded in response and she closed the door gingerly behind her. Opening a dresser that sat at the foot of my bed I found my clothes and quickly changed into them. As I was tucking in my button up shirt I noticed that it felt substantially looser than how I remembered it. Buttoning up my black vest I gave myself the once over in the bathroom mirror.

"My hair's so long now. Why is it when I want you to grow you don't budge an inch and when I've been sleeping for two weeks you decide to go haywire?" It now easily covered my right eye and seemed rather shaggy, the black locks of hair now draped over my ears and touched the nape of my neck. Sighing I opened my door and entered the hall, the stench of rubbing alcohol and ailments entered my lungs as though I was snorting starch.

After finally finding a directory I made my way to the main desk and checked myself out, getting several bottles of a special headache pain relief in a bag from the lady behind the desk. I was told to take one anytime I felt my head started to hurt for the next 3 months, which was the reason behind the surplus amount. Shoving my hands in my pockets I meandered over to the dorm building, standing as tall and stony as ever. The door slid automatically open as I walked up to it, allowing me entrance to the narrow hallway. The whole thing was just lined with doors, nothing special really. The carpet was that cheap blue one you see in any classroom, and the walls were stark white. Pulling the scroll out of my pocket I flipped through several different screens before I found the one with my dorm number on it.

At the end of the hall was a large spiral staircase, which I sadly knew I would need to climb for a while since I was all the way up on the 16th floor. _You gotta be kidding me!_

 _ **RUBY's POV**_

"Alright everyone! Silver will be here any minute! Remember, not too loud okay? His head probably still hurts really bad." I reminded them, glancing at Yang quickly.

"We heard you Ruby, it's the sixth time you've said that now! Just calm down, if I remember he's a good kid. Got nothing to worry about." Yang dismissed, waving her hand and rolling her eyes.

"I don't know, he has a different aura about him now. He seems...more predatory. It's like he's a cobra that's waiting to strike. His muscles are constantly tense now. I can tell, I've been the one watching over him. He used to talk in his sleep and whimper when the pain got bad but for a few days he was totally still." Yang stood up and put her hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes.

"You're reading into it too much. That was probably his body trying to get over whatever was wrong." I nodded and she sat back down on the bed with Blake. I nodded once again to reassure myself then looked at the dorm. The "bunk" beds looked nice and sturdy, their scarlet red blankets drooping down off the sides. On the wall opposite the door was a large arched window that led out to a small rounded balcony. The carpet was a deep chocolate brown. but it wasn't the softest thing I'd ever walked on.

In the midst of the silence came the sharp and resonant sounds of someone knocking on the door that caused me to nearly jump right out of my own skin. I heard Yang snigger and mentally slapped myself out of the mini freakout. Walking over, I opened the door to reveal Silver standing there, with one hand rubbing his temple.

"Hey Silver! Welcome to your new home for the next four years!" I grinned. He smirked a little and nodded before stepping in. He looked around the room quickly and nodded then looked at the other girls in turn and bowed deeply.

"Thanks for having me.I don't want to be rude but where's my little blanket bed at? I'm still pretty tired and the doctors said to make sure I got plenty of rest." He stated, looking at Weiss, who then pointed at the foot of our bed, where a couple comforters were laid out on the ground with a pillow. "Cool."

I ran up and wrapped myself around his arm and drug him over to Blake. "Silver, this is our other teammate Blake. Blake, this is Silver. I know you both already know the other two so please try to get acquainted." Silver held out his hand and Blake shook it gently, then he squinted slightly and smiled.

"Ninjas of Love huh? My older sister loves those books." Blake's face went bright red and she looked behind her at a book that was sitting on her bed.

"Y-yeah? What's her favorite part about it?"

"She SAYS it's the author's writing style, but personally" he leaned closer to her and whispered "I think she likes how smutty it is." Blake's face was almost steaming at this point and Yang was trying hard to suppress a laugh. I squeezed his arm and Silver looked at me with an eyebrow raised questioningly. He looked ghost pale and I could feel his body practically trembling in it's place.

"Maybe you should get some rest. You only just got back from the hospital and it's not good to put too much stress on your body." The concern creeping into my voice must have caught his attention because he leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

"I'll be fine Rubes, just don't tell the others why I'm like this okay? What they don't know can't hurt them. Give me another day and I'll be fine." He leaned back and quickly winked before clearing his throat. "Yeah, that sounds good. You guys do whatever you want, I'll be out on the balcony. The wind and sun feel decent today. Silver reached down and grabbed a blanket before opening the large window and stepping outside.

 **SILVER's POV**

The second my head was out of the window a breeze whisked past me and flowed through my hair. I could smell the plant life that was bursting to life under this perfect day, along with the sky itself. It painted a picture in my mind, a field. The grass is tall, as green as a man's greed and whipping in the strong wind. The sky is a perfect blue, starting from the shade that a baby boy wears when born on the horizon and melting into the sky directly above my head, the brilliant violet filling my mind.

I took a deep breath, reminiscing in this world for a moment, then lean on the rail and gaze out at the world around me. A bright smile graced my lips while I looked down at the students who are now emerging from the lecture halls, stretching out their tired muscles. Another deep breath, then I spread out the blanket on the balcony. I removed my vest and undid a few buttons on my shirt so I could get comfortable. I lied down and stared up at the sky for a few moments before my eyelids creeped closed and I was enveloped in the warmth of the sun, being cascaded into a dreamland.

 **RUBY's POV**

You could almost feel the comfort in the afternoon air. Blake sat on her bed, reading a book that seemed to be about as thick as my face and every so often she would snigger to herself or sniffle, books had a very strong effect on my mysterious new friend. Yang was sprawled out on the floor, her eyes closed and a very satisfied smile playing along her pale lips. Weiss sat at the table in front of the window, quietly working on paperwork I more than likely had no chance of understanding. I was leaning against the window ledge in front of Weiss, tools spread out all around me in a vortex of chaos. It'd been bugging me for a few days that Crescent Rose's change from sniper to scythe was so jerky, it wasn't as smooth as it could be and had a chance of damaging the weapon itself.

Silver was absolutely right through, sitting here in the sun felt amazing. A small smile overcame me and I looked outside at him. I know I hadn't even gotten to know him yet but to me at least he seemed like a really nice guy, I knew for sure that he was willing to put others before himself, which is a trait you don't often find in people anymore. I appreciate that in a huntsmen, my dad and Uncle Qrow are a lot like that too.

"I'll be right back guys, I'm gonna go check to see if Silver needs anything" I said, standing up, the largest response I got was a resounding 'meh' from Yang. Dusting small shavings of metal off of my skirt I walked over to the glass door and opened it slowly, making sure not to make too much noise. Silver had one arm lying across his stomach, the other one at his side. I definitely didn't notice the fact that his shirt was unbuttoned, not at all. Or that he looked so peaceful when he slept. Oh no! Stop that Ruby! Come on, he's your teammate! You can't think like this!

Well, I guess a little indulgence couldn't hurt anything, right?. I stripped off my boots and lied down next to him, making sure to lay on my side so I could see him. Slowly, I felt a red hot blush creep into my cheeks as I became drowsy. The sun gave me a blanket of warmth, but the warm breeze made sure I didn't get too hot. My mind went blank for a moment, and when I refocused my hands was now only inches away from his. I could see a small silver string slowly floating from his finger to mine. I don't know why, but it felt like Silver was trying to show me something, so I moved my hand and allowed the string to make a connection with my aura. Just like last time I could smell ozone faintly and a sense of security held me in its arms and carried me into Silver's dream.

At first, my head felt really fuzzy, and I was more confused than Yang when someone says they don't like long hair. Then all at once my head cleared and I was able to appreciate the true beauty around me. I was standing on a hillside, grass stood as tall as my waist, a dark and healthy green color. It was sprinkling lightly, but it wasn't cold at all. Clouds blending colors like navy blue and royal purple stood tall and majestic above me. Wind whipped my hair and the grass around, that's when I noticed as well, my new dress. My old clothes were gone, and were replaced by a simple white dress with thin straps over my shoulders, it reached to about my knees. It was really pretty, hugging my frame without squeezing me like a balloon.

"Ruby? How did you get in here?" Silver was walking up to me from the bottom of the hill. You could tell he'd been here longer, because he was drenched to the bone by the rain. He didn't sound angry, just curious. His clothes had changed as well. He now wore a pair of old loose jeans and a cream colored cotton shirt, which clung to his chest from the water, like me he was utterly barefoot. He ran a hand through his panther black hair to keep the water out of his eyes and raised an eyebrow at me.

"I-uh, um. I-I…" a large sigh slithered past my lips and I took deep breath. "I went outside to check on you and then I lied down next to you and for some reason you were using your semblance in your sleep and I was curious so I hooked myself on one of the strings." The words rushed out of me like a freight train, one after the other and so fast it was almost a blur. I looked him in the eye and felt a blush creeping into my cheeks again. He stared blankly at me for a moment, then did this really cute side grin and held out his hand.

"As long as you're here, I want to show you something. You do trust me right?" I reached out and grabbed his hand. For a moment a part of my mind was cautious but I quickly pushed it to the side. If you can't trust the people who are protecting you from violent and bloodthirsty monsters, who can you trust?

"Of course I do!" I smiled, this time it was his turn to blush. I pretended not to notice but I couldn't keep from snickering a little. Slowly, Silver began to float into the air, the wind swirling in a small vortex at his feet, one then appeared at my feet. Gracefully, we soared higher and higher into the air, ascending directly into the clouds. Then, like I'd never even seen the scene who knows how many feet below me, a new vision of a whole other kind of beauty opened in front of me like the first page of the world's grandest book.

Pride burned in Silver like a lion's roar. The clouds were now dyed with the colors of the setting sun, a massive wall rising directly in front of me. Astounding blends of red and orange and yellow melted over the surface of the clouds so perfectly I knew it could never happen in reality. A small section of the clouds were flattened out, Silver let go of my hand and drifted to them like there was nowhere else he would ever belong. He turned around and still grinning, motioned for me to follow him.

After almost losing my balance several times I was able to get the vortex to glide over to Silver, who was now standing on the flattened cloud as though it were as solid as an iron block. But when my feet touched down, I could feel wild cotton brushing against my feet. I walked up next to him.

"What is this place?" I asked, staring at the cloud wall.

"I call it the gate to Heaven, I was inspired to make it after staring at that sunset with you the first day we met." His proud fire in his eyes flickered lightly, and his head tilted down. "When I was a kid my mom used to tell me that if I didn't like reality than I could make my own perfect world in my head and live there in my dreams. I really took it to heart." I nodded in understanding and leaned on him for a second, a tenseness I hadn't even realized was there seeped out of his muscles and eventually he looked at me and nodded a thanks.

"So why the gate to Heaven?"

"Hm?"

"I don't really understand, I just see a wall."

"Oh! That's right, I forgot about that part!" my head tilted in curiosity, he took a step forward and the fire in his eyes blazed with incredible ferocity. For the first time I could really see how muscular he was, it wasn't that his muscles were large but they were so incredibly defined I was amazed. His shoulders broadened and he called out in a large and powerful voice. "Let the Light be shown to those who wish to see it! Heaven! Reveal thine divine gates to us mortals!"

A humongous gale of wind sprinted up from behind us and hit the wall of clouds with enough force to shake the cloud beneath me that I almost lost my balance. It continued to pound on the wall with enough force to break a building in half when the cloud finally gave way and opened up to the gates he was talking about. They were a hundred feet tall, bolting them in place were two massive cream colored pillars as thick as an elephant's torso. The gates themselves were wrought iron, solid and powerful. Inlaid into the doors were swirls and spirals of the purest gold I'd ever seen. The doors were slightly opened, enough for someone to walk in between the intimidating and angelic bars, between the bars and gap a ghostly mist slithered out and collected on the ground, snaking its way over to us.

"Wow, this is-"

"Beautiful?" Silver asked, he was looking at me with a big smile dancing across his lips, you could practically feel his happiness rubbing off on you. "I love my dreams, I've always been able to control what I do in them and I don't think that I could do better than the scenery I make, I leave the beauty of mankind to whoever it is that lives behind those gates. I'd say he's been doing a good job the past few years" he winked at me. I punched his arm and then he laid himself out on the cloud, arms behind his head. I followed his example but set my hands on my stomach.

"I wish I could stay here forever." I blurted it out, didn't even know I said it until it was too late. _Don't think I'm creepy! Please! I really do like it here!_ Embarrassment took over my thoughts and began to fidget in my place, nervous energy building in my chest. After what seemed like a century he finally replied.

"Next time, we go to your dream" he looked over at me, and if I thought the grin had made my heart skip then you should've seen me when Silver looked over this time, the small bittersweet smile filled me with sorrow as well as an unexpected amount of joy.

"Deal. Pinky promise?" I held out my little finger and he laughed, it was deep and vibrated from his diaphragm. Then he hooked his with mine and shook it slowly. The dream began to melt away, I could feel the sun on my skin and the lazy wind playing with my hair.

My muscles felt like Jell-O. Slowly, I sat up and stretched, helping the drowsiness to seep out of my bones, through my veins, and out in a long and satisfied sigh. I looked down and spread over my lap was a small cream sheet. Silver was waking up also, rubbing his eyes with a really dumb look on his face. He rolled over on his stomach and then pushed himself up on his hands and arched his back like a cat, shook his head, and sat back down normal.

"Good afternoon good ma'am" he joked, quickly putting his hat on and tipping it to me. "Would you like some tea madam? Today we have an excellent brew of cream, vanilla, and mint tea with a hint of lemon" I laughed at put a hand to my lips like I was fancy.

"Why yes Jeeves that sounds absolutely delightful. If you would be so kind as to bring me a cup I'd be very grateful."

"At once my lady." he stood up and after blushing at the unbuttoned shirt and fixing it he bowed and jumped back into the room.

 **SILVER's POV**

I pulled the teapot out of my bag and plugged it into the wall next to my bed, then pulled the pot off of the electrical heating pad and filled it with water from the tap in the bathroom sink. It wasn't exactly the water I liked to use most of the time but it would get the job done for now. I felt a finger tap my shoulder and looked over to see Weiss standing there.

"Making some tea?"

"Yeah, this one is vanilla, mint, lemon, and a splash of cream. Want some? I might have a third cup in here somewhere."

"No it's okay, I went into town when you were passed out and bought a few more of those special cups since I thought our teammates would like a cup every now and then. They're over in the bottom right drawer of my desk. Can you make enough for five? I think Yang and Blake would really like it."

"Sure thing." We were enveloped in silence for a moment before I spoke again. "I gotta say I'm a little surprised Weiss."

"What do you mean?"

"Normally when I would meet people like you at my dad's parties, including your father, they were all really cold and distant from everyone else, only talking when they were obligated to. You're different. I think that's pretty cool." Grabbing the tin of leaves from my bag I scooped out a three tablespoons of the dry and extremely aromatic tea and poured them into the metal pot, watching at first as the flavor leaked from them into the water before setting it to boil.

"I'll get the other cups, yours are still in the bag right?" her words floated around my ears before I remembered how to respond.

"Uh, yeah, I think so. Sorry, still a little tired."

"In that case tomorrow morning I can show you my specialty! Nobody else in this whole school can make a better cup of coffee than Ruby Rose!" Ruby popped up in through the window and smiled.

"You're on, we'll see which one is better in the end. My tea or your coffee. We'll have the other girls judge. Yang! No favoritism!" I called to her.

"No promises! After all, you're talking about my only little sister here." I smiled and looked back down at the pot, the water was just getting to boiling so I turned it off. Weiss had the cups lined in front of me and I poured each one carefully in turn, making sure not to spill any on the carpet. I then protruded a small box containing small packages of a honey cream and poured one into each cup.

"Okay, the tea's done. Make sure you're careful when you pick the cup up, sometimes the change is more than you expect and you could spill it all."

"What do you mean by 'change?' They're just cups aren't they?" Blake asked, her face still in the book. Weiss responded before I had the chance to explain.

"You'll see." She winked at me and I nodded in response. This was my favorite part of seeing people drink my tea, is the response to their cup. Weiss picked hers up first, her hand already poised to grab the small plate that appeared beneath the small snow white cup.

"Oooh! That's so cool, my turn!" Ruby reached out and grabbed the handle. Once her fingers brushed the surface the handle shortened and exploded into a vibrant and healthy green color, swirls were carved into it with a deeper emerald green, the cup took on the look of a blooming rose that had been hollowed out, the petals somewhere between scarlet and crimson red. Her eyes grew wide and she stared at her hand. "This is amazing."

Yang pushed off her bed and walked over, the picked up the cup which in turn morphed to the shape of a dragon's head, the scales glittered a reddish gold color and the eyes were a deep royal purple, the fanged mouth sat open to the sky to hold her tea. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up, then began to blow on the steaming liquid. Blake was looking at me with curiosity in the shade of her bed, I could feel her gaze on the side of my head.

I gestured to the cup with a wave of my hand, and if I didn't know better I would've said her hair bow twitched slightly. She stood up and walked apprehensively over, picking up the cup and smiling gently as it took form in her hand. The handle was a beautiful red ribbon, the cup being what seemed to be tornado of shadow and peeking out from it was a cat's eye. She sipped at the tea and her smile grew more. The other girls began to drink their tea too and after a while I picked up my cup. The handle took the familiar shape of a puppet controller, painted like it was made from an old oak tree, the cup itself coloring itself in mercury silver, small marionettes were painted around it in black, each of them tipping a top hat. I held the cup out in front of me.

"Whaddya say team RWBY? Will you take this poor little tea maker into your ranks?" The four women in front of me looked at each other in turn, all of them with a mischievous grin playing across their lips. Finally, Ruby looked me in the eye.

"Silver Ozpin, as leader of our little group I think I speak for us all here when I say, I wouldn't have it any other way. Welcome to the team, Hatter" she winked at me and sipped her tea again. Yang sat down next to me and threw her arm around my shoulder before holding her cup up and saying.

"To Silver! May he never stop in his tea making ways!" Blake rolled her eyes and held her cup up too, Weiss simply nodded approval, and Ruby cheered.

We spent the rest of the night telling stories and teasing one another about all of the embarrassing stuff we had done before. They especially liked to poke at the fact that one time I accidently pushed my dad down the stairs when he came out of the bathroom too fast for tired me to handle.

It was about then, sitting in this ring of new friends that I had barely even gotten to know their last names yet that I realized I was exactly where I needed to be. This is it, the thing my mom wanted me to find away from dad and Orianna. A family of friends.


	5. Screw it

I don't care anymore how bad my writers block is. I want to write some romance and by God that is what I'm starting tomorrow. Ryan Roach returns bitches! If the next chapter is not up in two weeks then message me and kick my ass!


	6. Don't do Speed

Yawning, I sat up and opened my heavy eyelids. Holding my arm above my head I stretched out the stiffness in my muscles. doing the same with my other arm. I rubbed my eyes quickly and the room came into focus, the sunrise just appearing through the large window. The others were still sleeping soundly in their beds. I, on the other hand, was still trying to get used to this makeshift little futon (If you could call it that).

So far, my first semester at Beacon had been pretty uneventful. Classes were simple, I've known the professors since I was a kid and because of that I'd learned a lot of this stuff already. Believe it or not, unlike Ruby, I hadn't skipped two years just because I was good at fighting. I was smart enough as well. My favorite class was History with Professor Oobleck. His was the one class that actually challenged me, it was really cool to learn about all of the things that my ancestors had to deal with.

The only thing that sucked was that we were required to take one of the team electives. The girls had decided on one before I woke up so imagine my joy when I found out we're taking Aura Blending. I am aware that it was the entire premise for my semblance and all, but it still felt oddly different way from how I normally do it. The gist of it is this, you feed your aura as much energy as possible, then focus on the person you want to mix it with, who has to be doing the same thing, then when the two of you get near one another they become a single semblance the two of you share for a short amount of time.

It takes an entire day to manage to connect once for the others, but so far Ruby and I have been able to accomplish it in just a few hours, we both have exceptional control over our aura so it makes things a lot easier than I thought it would've been. Our teacher, Professor Ramsey, said that the goal by the end of our second year is to be working on our entire team melding together.

Now realizing that I had been sitting in place staring at the wall for the past five minutes I stood up and walked over to my dresser, pulling out the clothes I would need and walked out of the dorm. We have a bathroom and all that is in there but I feel a little weird showering knowing there are four very attractive women sitting just outside, not to mention that Yang loves to mess with me and opens the door then just waits for me to push open the curtain.

So, I have became very determined to use the communal shower down the hall from here. It's actually nice, the only other guys that ever show up are the ones who have mainly female teammates like me, so really I'm the only one there.

Throwing my pajamas over a railing I walked into one of the stalls and turned the water on, the warm water streaming down my back ebbed away the last of the sleep from my mind. Quickly I rubbed the soap over my body and then just as fast turned the water on full cold, the new ice water sending a shiver of energy down my spine and made my mind more alert than it had been before. I got out after a few minutes of dancing around to keep from freezing too much under the shower head. Throwing on my clothes I left the shower and walked back to the dorm, throwing my hat into the air and trusting it to float back down on my head, which it did.

When I got to the door I made sure to knock a few times, waited a moment, then entered the sleeping room. Yang's snores caused the air in the room to practically vibrate, Ruby was in a really twisted position above her covers with a little drool on the side of mouth, Weiss was on her side and talking in her sleep quietly, Blake on the other hand was already up and showered like myself, standing out on the balcony, taking in the morning air, the sun was now getting high enough that the orange light was beginning to dissipate. Skillfully dodging around the heiress I climbed up and poked Ruby's cheek to wake her up. Slowly, she stirred and held her head up, one eye open and the other still lazily closed.

"Morning there Rubes, you might want to grab the shower before Yang wakes up and uses all of the hot water. Want me to make some tea?" I said to my partner

"No, that's okay. It's my turn to make coffee today remember? Just give me a minute and I'll be out." She rubbed her eye with the back of her hand and yawned, then smacked her lips and jumped down from the bed, headed for the bathroom.

"As you wish, O' leader" I teased, she took a second to stick her tongue out at me before closing the door behind her. "Now that the chain of waking has started it's time to finally go get something to eat!" Walking out of the dorm, this time I slung Writing Raven behind my back in its halberd form. Behind the closed doors I heard other teams sleepily getting ready for the day, and as usual behind CRDN's door there were repeated blasts of some of the most disgusting rap music you'll ever hear.

Once I finally reached the steps I simply sat on the rail and began to ride it downwards, after a few other kids had seen me do this last week it had quickly become the most popular form of transportation in the building, I actually thought it was pretty funny because sometimes people would slam into each other and fall of either into the hallway or onto the stairs. Once my feet touched the carpeted floor I continued until I reached the entrance of the dorm building and stood there for a second as the wind whisked past briefly. The morning air felt amazing as I took in a deep breath, feeling the cool wind that enter my body.

Walking to the cafeteria just a few buildings down I watched other students who were gathering around the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, the marble shimmered brilliantly under the morning sun, the water sparkling like a million stars. Dad loved that fountain, he'd had it placed there when he had become Headmaster. I smiled at the memory of him walking around the house with a massive smile on his face, and continued my long strides to the tall square building in front of me. The front doors stood about 12 feet tall, made from some kind of exotic redwood tree that had a darker tint, the floors were made of a pristine white tile and columns made from limestone rose up to support the high ceiling, spaced in between said columns were equally large windows. At the end of the hall there was a large buffet full of different kinds of foods.

Hey, say what you want about being privileged and all but Huntsmen and Huntresses are very respected, especially since our job is literally to risk our lives, even as students. Walking over, I grabbed a plate and put a few pieces of toast on them, spreading honey over the top before finding a table for myself. I sat in silence munching away at my little sugary heaven, watching the other teams. This has always been one of my favorite things to do, just sit there and watch everyone else do their thing. Right as I was beginning to listen in on a conversation taking place behind me, a boy walked up to me.

His hair was tied back in a long midnight black ponytail that reached down his back,our hair was almost the same color aside from the stripe of brilliant pink on his bangs, his eyes were the same color as the stripe. He wore a forest green shirt, it had an asian influence though, being made with two flaps at the front, one stretching past over the other to his ribs. It had a thick black edging and gold trim. Finally he wore a plain pair of white pants and black shoes.

He simply pointed to a seat with a raised eyebrow, so I waved my permission and he sat down with me and ate his breakfast, a bowl of fruit and a fried egg. For a long time after we both finished we sat there and stared one another in the eye. Something about this guy, I don't know, I like him, he gives off a vibe I can handle. Reaching my hand forward I finally spoke.

"I'm Silver, nice to meet you." He reached his hand out and shook mine firmly.

"I'm Ren, likewise. I feel like I've seen you somewhere before, what year are you in?"

"Just started my first year a few weeks ago. You?"

"I'm the same, maybe I saw you in the Emerald Forest at some point."

"If you were one of the maniacs fighting one of the two massive Grimm out there then yeah, you've probably seen me. I was on the side with the Nevermore."

"That must have been it!" Ren exclaimed, a slight smile on his lips "I'm sorry, I get really frustrated when I can't place a face. I was with the Deathstalker." I nodded and then felt a hand on my shoulder, Yang was standing there with the others, all of them with plates in hand.

"Mind if we join you?" She asked, looking at my new acquaintance.

"Fine by me" Ren said. The girls sat down on my side of the table and began talking about today's schedule. I simply sat there and listened while they made the decisions, it's better to do that sometimes, especially when the people you live with are all female.

"Ren, these are my teammates. Blake is the one with the bow, the girl with white hair is Weiss, blondie here is Yang, and the girl with the hood is our leader Ruby." Thankfully, they had listened to me at least a little this time, all looking over and greeting him. He nodded and looked back at me.

"You're on a team with only girls?"

"Yeah, at first you might think 'dude you're so lucky' but that goes away when you realize that it just means that every time I want to do anything other than sleep or study I have to leave the dorm. I'm seriously thinking of covering our window with a blind so I can just spend all my time on the balcony."

"That's understandable. Hold on one moment. Nora! Over here! Oh my gosh, how many pancakes did you take today?" A girl with tangerine hair ran up to Ren, her white shirt had a hole in the shape of a heart just above her bosom, her frame outlined by thin metal poles, a pink skirt dropped to her mid thigh and she had on a pair of sneakers with every color in her ensemble. Her eyes were electric blue, and a wide grin was plastered on her face.

"Oh come on! There aren't even that many here Ren!" I then noticed the massive plate she held in her hands, it was stacked with at least fifteen pancakes, all of them waving precariously. Ren sighed deeply, grabbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger.

"If I've told you once I have told you a million times. Go put at least eight of those back, if you eat too many you get even more hyper than I can handle."

"Awww, but Rennnn-"

"No buts!" Nora's face drooped slowly down. Defeated, she shuffled back to the buffet and began putting pancakes back, one at a time before walking back and sitting down. She began chatting with Ruby, both slowly starting to cause the air around them to vibrate, bouncing with energy and smiling like maniacs. Eventually the rest of Ren's team showed up too. There was a girl with crimson red hair and emerald green eyes. She dressed in leather and bronze armor, making her appear to be an Amazon. Her partner on the other hand, was that dork from the cliff. You remember right? The blond one, yeah.

We spent a long time talking all together before we eventually had to leave for class. First up for today, Grimm studies. Making our way into the lecture hall we sat in the front row of the stadium style seating. Grimm studies was taught by a man named Professor Port, whose mustache was as full as his body. He wore a reddish brown suit with golden tie. All of this contrasted his paper white hair quite well.

"Now! Let's begin today's lesson shall we?" His voice echoed through the room, like the sound of a cannon. "Today we'll be discussing the anatomy of the muscles of Grimm and how they differ from their animal cousins. Let's start with the Beowulf for something simple. As you can see by looking at this model here the arms the most considerable difference. Beowulfs are usually larger than regular wolves and have altered their bodies so they can walk on their hind legs as well as all fours, making them both quadrupedal as well as dual pedal. This is mainly contributed by the pectoral muscles, which have expanded so well. Any questions so far?"

 _That's not right, it has nothing to do with pectoral muscles, it's all in the shoulders and abdomen._ Wanting to make this more clear for future classes, I raised my hand.

"Processor Port, the pectoral muscles actually aren't that different between the two, it's just that the Beowulf has a slightly wider pair. Their shoulder muscles developed greatly for stronger movements in the upper arm when running. Plus, their abdomen is much larger so they will have better balance when walking on their hind legs."

"Pray-tell me young man, how exactly would you know more about this than I do?" I could the anger slowly building in his voice. "I have not only successfully graduated from this very school but also spent years researching these foul, disgusting creatures, so please, if you have some insight into this I would be more than happy to listen." His eyebrow was raised now, and his chest was puffed out, as though he had already decided that he had won the argument.

"Sir, my semblance allows me to manipulate Grimm. First though I had to learn how their muscles worked, because it doesn't work through sheer willpower, I have to force their body to move by energizing different muscles to contract and relax. Beowulfs have a special shoulder muscle that stretches around to just above their pectoral muscle. They run by using their front arms to pull them forward, not push with their hind legs like most Grimm" I finished. While I thought this was a normal intellectual conversation, the Professor and other students were dumbfounded. Immediately I began to hear other teams whispering among themselves. Port stood slack-jawed at the front of us all, then quickly regained his composure, taking a wide-footed stance and holding his chin high.

"I find that very hard to believe Mr-" he held out the 'r' excruciatingly long, waiting for my he hadn't been bothered to read his class list.

"Ozpin, my name is Silver Ozpin." Once again, a round of murmuring weaved through the teams. I saw the mustachioed man's face pale, then in large strides he walked to his desk and picked up a clipboard, his eyes flying across whatever was on it. He then looked up at me then back down at the paper repeatedly before setting it down and walking back to the spot he was in before.

"Well, so you are. In that case Mr. Ozpin would you be so kind as to demonstrate this semblance of yours to us?" He waved a hand at the spot in front of him and I stood up, picking up Writing Raven from its spot on the floor. "Without your weapon if you would. I have already lost Edgar because of your teammate Miss Schnee, I'd prefer not to lose Edgar three as well."

"Um...Okay I guess?" _What the hell is he talking about? Who's Edgar?_ I stood next to Port and he walked away, when he came back he was easily dragging a large cage out from underneath the desks. Inside of the cage I heard a terrible screeching sound.

"This will be your opponent. If you manage to do as you said you can I will personally guarantee that you grade will not drop below a C for the entire semester. Now, let me just get my axe." The man began walking toward his desk and picked up his weapon, a weird axe/blunderbuss combination. It was definitely older than any other weapon on campus, especially considering that the axe blades were right on the stock, appearing to not have any kind of transition phase in the weapon. Grabbing it by the barrel he walked over and without any warning, brought down the axe head in a swift motion, breaking the lock on the cage door.

The metal door creaked eerily open, revealing a pair of bright red eyes glowering at me in the darkness. Slowly, a Beowulf began to inch it's way out of the darkness and into the light of the room. His eyes were trained solely on me, and in response my body shivered. Every instinct in me was screaming to run, the Grimm's bloodlust was practically palpable.

Then my adrenaline kicked in and the feeling subsided, replaced now with alertness and my own bloodlust. The Grimm sensed this on me as well, and raised his head high into the air, letting loose a deep and guttural howl. I quickly sent aura to my fingers, when the creature charged me with deadly speed. Jumping over its large black mass I flipped around in mid-air and sent the puppet strings from my right hand out, attaching myself to his body.

After a second of the Beowulf going totally rigid I allowed the muscles relax and the once blood red eyes turned mercury silver. Slowly, I made the beast approach Professor Port. All the while my fingers flew all over the place, like I was playing the piano with its nervous system.

"Professor Port, please observe as I make its shoulder muscles flex as hard as they can. You'll be able to note that it wraps above its collarbone and then widens out, grabbing the front of the shoulder directly above the pectoral muscle." With a twitch of my pinky finger the muscle bulged tightly out from the Grimm's greasy coat.

"This is fascinating! Look how dense it is, they even have a thicker bone plate on their back to protect this muscle! Oh my, this is quite intriguing young man I must admit." His words of praise made me feel extremely accomplished, but sadly I hadn't given my aura a workout in a month or so and I was beginning to feel a little drained.

"Professor please get a new lock ready, I'm going to put Edgar Three back in his cage now. I'm afraid I can't keep this up for too long at the moment."

"Of course! Go right ahead. After you're done join your team and we'll get back to the lecture." I walked the Grimm back into his cage and brought my strings back, Port harshly closing the door. He began to walk up to me and whispered in my ear "I trust that up until now however that my classes have been accurate?"

"One tiny thing, Boarbatusk don't have eyes, it's a gland that stick out of the armor as a trick. They operate solely by scent and can read seismic waves, no matter how small" I answered. Both eyebrows raised and he nodded in acknowledgement. With a small smile on my face I looked back up at my team, and their faces were priceless.

Weiss looked like she had about a million questions flying through her head at once, her jaw slightly dropped and a pale eyebrow raised high in the air. Yang eyes were wide with surprise, her arms were limp at her side in awe as she leaned back in her chair. Blake looked slightly afraid though, one away watching me carefully while she leaned away slightly. Finally, Ruby sat there trying not to laugh at their expressions. Making my way back up I sat down next to my partner, who immediately fist-bumped me.

"How did you...what just...huh?" Clearly the heiress was at a loss for words as she stared into space, trying to process what had just happened. "How is that possible?"

"I'll explain later tonight, for now just leave it there and keep staring at me with shock" I smiled and turned back to listen to Port finish his lesson. Honestly, the rest of class flew by in a flash but I was able to take note on a few abilities that the Grimm have I wasn't aware of, like how a Nevermore shoots its feathers like bullets and things like that.

The bell rang and it was a massive jumble to get out of the room as students left for their next classes. Up next for us was, once again, Aura Mixing. Normally, we're outdoors for this class. Professor Ramsey apparently used to have a big problem with anger management so he'd gotten permission from my dad to hold his class outside. He was given one condition, he had to make the whole thing himself. So naturally since his semblance was creating pinpointed seismic waves he was able to really make a nice place.

Ramsey had flattened out the top of a hill, then brought up some large rocks from the ground and smoothed them out for meditation spots in rows facing a small limestone desk. The whole things had short but very green and soft grass growing like a carpet, a small waterfall rose about ten feet up into the air in the center, just wide enough for two people to sit under the water flowed up from the top from some unknown source and poured down both sides. It then flowed into a small river that snaked in a circle around the hill before sliding down the hill at the cardinal points.

"This is fascinating! Look down dense it is, the even have a thicker bone plate on their back to protect this muscle! Oh my, this is quite intriguing young man I must admit." His words of praise made me feel extremely accomplished, but sadly I hadn't given my aura a workout in a month or so and I was beginning to feel a little drained.

"Professor please get a new lock ready, I'm going to put Edgar Three back in his cage now. I'm afraid I can't keep this up for too long at the moment."

"Of course! Go right ahead. After you're done join your team and we'll get back to the lecture." I walked the Grimm back into his cage and brought my strings back, Port harshly closing the door. He began to walk up to me and whispered in my ear "I trust that up until now however that my classes have been accurate?"

"One tiny thing, Boarbatusk don't have eyes, it's a gland that stick out of the armor as a trick. They operate solely by scent and can read seismic waves, no matter how small" I answered. Both eyebrows raised and he nodded in acknowledgement. With a small smile on my face I looked back up at my team, and their faces were priceless.

Weiss looked like she had about a million questions flying through her head at once, her jaw slightly dropped and a pale eyebrow raised high in the air. Yang eyes were wide with surprise, her arms were limp at her side in awe as she leaned back in her chair. Blake looked slightly afraid though, one away watching me carefully while she leaned away slightly. Finally, Ruby sat there trying not to laugh at their expressions. Making my way back up I sat down next to my partner, who immediately fist-bumped me.

"How did you...what just...huh?" Clearly the heiress was at a loss for words as she stared into space, trying to process what had just happened. "How is that possible?"

"I'll explain later tonight, for now just leave it there and keep staring at me with shock" I smiled and turned back to listen to Port finish his lesson. Honestly, the rest of class flew by in a flash but I was able to take note on a few abilities that the Grimm have I wasn't aware of, like how a Nevermore shoots its feathers like bullets and things like that.

The bell rang and it was a massive jumble to get out of the room as students left for their next classes. Up next for us was, once again, Aura Blending. Normally, we're outdoors for this class. Professor Ramsey apparently used to have a big problem with anger management so he'd gotten permission from my dad to hold his class outside. He was given one condition, he had to make the whole thing himself. So naturally since his semblance was creating pinpointed seismic waves he made an extremely nice platform for us to work on.

Ramsey had flattened out the top of a hill, then brought up some large rocks from the ground and smoothed them out for meditation spots in rows facing a small limestone desk. The whole things had short but very green and soft grass growing like a carpet, a small waterfall rose about ten feet into the air in the center, just wide enough for two people to sit under, the water flowed up from the top from some unknown source and poured down both sides. It then flowed into a small river that snaked in a circle around the hill before sliding down the hill at the cardinal points.

My team was already situated in front both sides of the waterfall, Ruby and I sitting on one side and Blake and Yang on the other, Weiss was a few feet away practicing on some "extra ability" her semblance had. My concentration was entirely focused inward, working on expanding my aura outward, and trying to sync up with the vibrating hum of Ruby's aura. It was starting to work, I could feel the two mixing together in my chest.

"How's it going over there Silver?" Ruby whispered. I risked opening an eye and looking over at her. Her hood was soaked from the backsplash and sweat was starting to gather on her brow.

"I'm doing alright. How about you?"

"It's getting easier, do you want to try for the semblance today or wait until next time?" She might not have said it outright but I had part of her aura in my body, so it made it fairly evident she was anxious to try it out, when she suggested it I felt a little stir of excitement.

"Let's do it. Nothing risk nothing gained, right? Let's just get a little more in tune before we try anything" I stated, watching as her head nodded in affirmation. "One big push, that's all that's left. When I count to three push all of your aura my way and I'll do the same."

"I know you're just concerned Silver, but we've done this I don't know how many times now! Come on!" She smiled at me quickly, then closed her eyes and began to muster her aura, a soft red glow gathering around her body. "I'm ready when you are."

"One…" My aura rushed to a single point in my chest, making it a little hard to breathe. "...Two…" it began to rush to my hand, which I then held up, she then put her hand flat against mine. "...Three!" I shot my chaotic aura out like a bullet, the hole it left behind quickly being filled by Ruby's. Energy buzzed through my mind, every part of my body wanted to just run and not stop for miles, my fingers began to move around frantically so that I could sit even slightly still, aside from the bouncing.

My eyes popped open and I stood up like a cannon had just shot off. Looking at my hands I smiled, I was encased in a silver light like I know I had been before but now a small trail of red haze wrapped all around my body like a snake. Now looking over at Ruby I could see the same was evident for her but instead of it wrapping around from her body all the joints in her arms and legs had small tendrils of silver floating into the air and dissipating.

"We did it...We did it!" Ruby shouted, jumping up and down. "Weiss! Come here! Check it out!" From across the hill I saw our white haired teammate standing with her rapier drawn, a glyph I didn't recognize shone blue green in the air and Weiss looked extremely drained. Slowly, she lowered the weapon and sighed, then looked over at us and her eyes grew wide. She began to jog over and when she got close stopped dead in her tracks, looking even more amazed.

"That's incredible! I didn't know two people could give off such a strong aura! I actually feel intimidated by you for once."

"What's going on back there?!" Professor Ramsey shouted. It looked like he was helping a cat faunus girl who was sitting on a rock. "Well? Who's going to answer me?" He was looking around like a bird, his head darting from side to side, glancing right over us each time.

"Professor Ramsey! Silver and Ruby did it!" Weiss called back, a hand to her mouth. He finally looked over at us directly and a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Professor Ramsey was on the little side for height, being about 5' 10" in all, his frame was thin and wiry. His hair was pitch black and tussled around as though he had just woken up, and thick beard of the same hair painted itself across his face. The coolest part about him though, was that he had glyphs tattooed all over his arms, reaching up to his shoulder blades. In large strides he made his way over to the two of us, examining the tendrils drifting off of Ruby and the haze around myself carefully, with a glint of approval in his eyes he backed up and clapped his hands together sharply.

"Good, now there's one thing left to do. Clasp hands again and feel for the semblance, it won't work yet without you two being in direct contact with one another." Doing as he instructed I held Ruby's small hand in my own, the pale skin feeling cool and soft against my calloused palms. Once again I looked inward on myself, and tried to summon up my semblance. In its usual place I found something sharper, more wicked and fast than my elegant strings. I opened my eyes and look at my partner, who had a look of amazement plastered on her face.

"This is so cool!" she took a step forward and looked at me again, this time her eyes wide with understanding. "Start running!"

"What?"

"Just start running to the edge and trust me!" I am not a stupid man, when a woman yells at you to do something, you do it. I began at a jog, and before I could comprehend it, I was at the edge of the hill,standing there totally astounded.

"How did I just move that fast?!" I yelled back over to her.

"We didn't mix semblances, we can use each other's now! Sprint to the other side!" Now excited I put everything into my legs and bolted across the hill, everything was a blur to me, the wind whisking through my hair furiously. I passed by everyone and heard something boom like a cannon behind me before I leapt into the air with all the strength I had. Looking back I saw Ruby standing solidly, her hand outstretched as red strings shot forward like bullets for me. I held out my hand and extended my own silver strands, and once we connected her body twisted clockwise and she began to spin, myself still high in the air and being flung around like a sack of potatoes. Finally, we both let go and I went sailing with so much speed that I could almost feel air catching fire behind me.

Then I began to notice that there was a building right in front of me, and it was getting larger very fast.

 **Sorry for the short chapter but I've been really looking forward to doing a kingdom hearts fic for a while now and not that this has a somewhat suitable ending I'm going for it! Please be prepared all of you beautiful people and I will let you know when the first chapter is out! I appreciate all the support, reviews, favorites, and follows! Lot of stuff right there, phew. Alrighty then! Until next time!**


	7. NEW STORY

Sorry for the break in the story for an update again! The Kingdom Hearts story, "Harmony of Ocean and Sky" is up on my profile right now! Please go give it a read and review everyone


End file.
